Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to inaugurate the Z-Morh tunnel in Jammu and Kashmir on January 13 — a vital step in providing all-weather access to Ladakh along the Srinagar-Leh National Highway.
Located at an altitude of 8,652 ft above sea level, the 6.5-km two-lane tunnel will provide round-the-year connectivity between Gagangir, nearly 68 km east of Srinagar, and Sonmarg, a popular tourist destination further on. Named after the Z-shaped twisting stretch of road, the tunnel, burrowing through the mountains, will by-pass the avalanche prone area that used to get blocked for extended periods and cut down the travel time from two hours or so hours to just about 15 minutes. Built under the aegis of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), its construction had started in May 2015.
The NH-1 that connects Ladakh to Srinagar and there on to the rest of India remains closed for almost six months in a year due to heavy snow on several high mountain passes en route. The situation is the same on the alternate Manali–Leh axis, where the passes are even higher.
The Z-Morh tunnel is a critical component of the Zoji La tunnel project, conceived to establish uninterrupted road connectivity between Ladakh and Srinagar. The under-construction 14-km long U-shaped Zoji La tunnel, situated further east from Z-Morh, will do away with the need to negotiate the 11,575-ft pass, said to be among the world’s most treacherous. Zoji La Tunnel, laying in Kargil district, is expected to be completed in another two years’ time.
The immediate significance of commissioning the Z-Morh tunnel is that it will boost tourism and provide convenience to the civilian populace of Sonmarg area that needs to travel down to Srinagar and Jammu for their personal requirements.
It is only after the Zoji La Tunnel is complete that the true strategic value of these under-the-mountain bypasses will be realised. The all-weather road connectivity to Ladakh will greatly enhance India’s defence posture and logistics capability in the Kargil and Ladakh sectors, where Indian troops are deployed on the Line of Control and Siachen against Pakistan as well as the Line of Actual Control against China.
Similarly, a series of tunnels are also to come up on the Manali–Leh highway. While the first of these, Atal Tunnel under the Rohtang Pass ahead of Manali in Himachal Pradesh, was opened in 2020, the work has commenced on a tunnel to its north under the Baralacha La on the Himachal–Ladakh border. Tunnels are also planned under Tangang La and Lachung La on this route in Ladakh. These three passes are at an altitude of over 15,000 ft.
A third axis to Leh has also been opened recently. This route from Manali, which lies to the west of the main highway, is through the Zankakar Valley over the 16,800-ft Shinku La, leading to Padum in Kargil. The construction of a tunnel under the Shinku La received environmental clearance last year. These tunnels are part of the Central Government’s India China Border Roads initiative, an expansive project to build up strategic infrastructure, involving several thousand km of roads and bridges, in the northern as well as north-eastern theatres. Besides the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), which handles the bulk of these construction and maintenance works, several agencies, including the NHAI, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, Central Public Works Department and the Public Works Departments of the states involved as well as private sector entities are associated with this.
In winters, the sustenance of troops deployed in the northern sector is dependent on air. The Indian Air Force transport aircraft ferry in fresh rations, supplies and equipment and help rotate troops. Even civilian medical cases requiring critical care are evacuated from Kargil and Ladakh regions by the IAF or Army helicopters.
The all-weather road connectivity to the northern sector becomes crucial in view of the prevailing security situation requiring sustained deployment of a large number of troops along the frontiers. Round-the-year access will reduce reaction time, facilitate faster and cost-effective mobilisation and re-enforcing existing capability by moving in heavy equipment. It will also benefit the civilian population in these areas.
When all tunnels are completed a few years hence, Ladakh and Kargil will have all-weather access from three axes — one from Srinagar and two from Manali, allowing considerable strategic advantage and flexibility. In the long run, it would also be a boon for socio-economic development of the region.
